Vatican City, 26 July, 2024 / 7:26 pm (ACI Africa).
Pope Francis and Athletica Vaticana, the official Holy See sports association, have invited all athletes participating in the 2024 Olympic Games to harness the “great social power of sport” to unite people and be witnesses of peace, particularly during these times of international tensions and conflict.
Around 300,000 spectators welcomed thousands of athletes representing 206 countries at the opening ceremony of this year’s summer games in Paris today.
The ceremony to open the two-week international festival took place at 7:30 p.m. in Paris (1:30 p.m. ET). The Olympic Games, which take place between July 26 and Aug. 11 this year, are expected to draw approximately 800,000 tourists to France and an additional one billion viewers who wish to watch the sports events on TV or other digital channels.
During his Sunday Angelus address on July 21, Pope Francis expressed his hope that this year’s Olympics will bring athletes and spectators together and “peacefully unite people from different cultures.”
“I hope that this event may be a beacon of the inclusive world we want to build and that athletes, with their sporting testimony, may be messengers of peace and authentic models for young people,” the Holy Father said.
